(Bang, Bang) I hit the ground
by TheBigDamnSavior
Summary: Stationed at Firebase Zulu in 1970 Vietnam, Kara and Alex are a pilot and doctor, respectively, on a Huey and Lena is a fighter pilot. One day, during a particularly unfair dogfight, Lena's plane goes down and she is presumed dead. Despite being ordered not to, when Kara hears about the sighting of a crashed American jet, she goes looking for Lena with Alex's begrudging help.


This fic is based on a lovely idea for a pilot!Lena AU that Sterling_Jay once gave me during one of our conversations, which I wrote because I didn't want to do my other work.

We're pretending that women served in all branches of the US military during the Vietnam War. If I missed any tags or triggers, let me know.

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 _1970 – Somewhere in the jungles of Vietnam_

Despite troop withdrawals and the start of a new administration, American involvement in the War in Vietnam was still in full swing, which was how Lieutenant Kara Danvers and her sister, Major Alex Danvers found themselves still stationed in the dense jungles on a nondescript, but surprisingly active base. The two sisters often worked together with Kara piloting a UH-1 Huey to evacuate injured troops and Alex serving as the onboard doctor (and occasional navigational officer, not that Kara would ever admit it). They were known for Kara's expert piloting skills (the kind few pilots possessed without years of practice) and Alex's ability to jury rig just about any necessary piece of equipment. Also stationed at Firebase Zulu was Captain Lena Luthor, who had the reputation for being reckless, but extraordinarily good at her job. She was the kind of pilot that would insist on repairing her plane herself because it made her feel more comfortable. Captain Luthor also loved to wear old, leather bomber jackets when flying because—well, actually no one knew why, she just did. There was a rumor spreading around the base that she once put her F-4 on autopilot and climbed out to repair the damage that an enemy MiG inflicted on her wing during a dogfight. No one knows why Lena did the things she did, maybe she had something to prove. After all, her adoptive brother, Lex, was the biggest anti-Vietnam activist Metropolis had ever seen until he was arrested for bombing several recruitment offices and other military buildings, killing 28 servicemen and women.

It was an unusually quiet day at the base as the Danvers sisters found themselves hanging out in the radio tent, chatting with their friend Technical sergeant Winn Schott. With one ear monitoring the unremarkable transmissions, Winn, Alex, and Kara discussed their plans for their upcoming leave. Everything was calm as various platoons reported their positions and occasional updates from some of the pilots patrolling the skies. Suddenly, the radio crackled to life as a desperate call broke through the silence. _"MAYDAY. MAYDAY. This is Captain Lena Luthor. My plane's been hit and I am surrounded. There are four, I repeat, four enemy planes on my tail. My left wing is badly damaged and I'm several miles away from the base. I'm going to try to bail out. Send evac, send someone! My coordinates are-._ " Before Lena could complete her message, the trio heard a whistle and a faint scream followed by silence punctuated with the occasional burst of static. Winn leaped out of his chair and took off running toward the base commander's office as Alex and Kara exchanged panicked looks. The two decided to follow him and arrived just as Colonel J'onzz had finished listening to Winn's explanation.

"Sergeant Schott, despite the fact that Captain Luthor was a valued member of the Air Force and a beloved member of the troops stationed here, I cannot send soldiers out to look for a crash site that could be anywhere."

"But, sir," Winn tried to protest.

"I understand your dedication to her, Sergeant, and I admire it. However, we simply don't have the resources. With fewer troops each week, I can't send people out to look for the crash site and endanger their lives. I'm sorry, but this the end of this discussion." Winn, Alex, and Kara solemnly walked out of Colonel J'onzz's office, angry, but aware that they couldn't argue with a superior officer. As news spread through the base that Lena had been killed, a small memorial was set up for her. Unfortunately, there would be no opportunity to mourn her as combat operations intensified as the Viet Cong started getting closer to the base.

The combat pilots found themselves flying more missions than they ever had as they tried to stop enemy's advance. Kara and Alex also found themselves flying many more missions to evacuate injured troops with the addition of Gunnery sergeant Maggie Sawyer and Staff sergeant Susan Vasquez as their Marine accompaniment. Despite their initial unhappiness about having more people assigned to their crew, Alex and Kara were happy for the added protection when out in the field, as well as the extra sets of hands that made loading up injured soldiers that much easier. When they had a moment of downtime, Alex and Kara visited Lena's memorial along with Sam Arias, a fellow pilot who had risen through the ranks with Lena and frequently flew missions with her (except for one, the last one).

* * *

 _One week later…_

As with all things during wartime, eventually, everyone moved on and the memorial gradually lost visitors. However, one person visited the small vase of flowers daily: Lieutenant Kara Danvers. While Alex harbored her own secret crush on a certain Marine, Kara found herself missing Lena more than she ever thought she would. With every mission Kara and Alex were sent out on, the blonde secretly hoped and prayed that one of them would involve rescuing the missing woman. But Kara has never been that lucky in her life, so her prayers remained unanswered—until a radio message came through that a Sergeant James Olsen had stumbled upon the burnt-out wreckage of what looked like an American F-4 about 2 miles north of the base. When Kara heard the news, she immediately went to Colonel J'onzz's office to request permission to launch a search and rescue operation, which was swiftly denied.

"Lieutenant Danvers, I respect your commitment to bringing her back and that you value our doctrines. _However,_ despite all this, we simply do not have the resources to risk a helicopter and one of our best pilots to run what is at best the recovery of a body and a worst a suicide mission."

"But, sir-," Kara tried to protest.

"No buts, Lieutenant. We simply can't and I'm sorry." As Kara turned to leave the room, J'onn called out to her. "Oh, and Lieutenant Danvers, whatever you're planning, don't. That's a direct order."

Later that night as most of the troops on the base slept, Kara found herself sneaking out to her helicopter, planning to launch a one-man rescue mission. Once she lifted off, Kara used a compass to guide her as she flew northward. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Kara?" asked a familiar voice from the behind her.

"ALEX?" Kara screeched.

"Yes, Kara. Did you really think that I don't know you were going to do this? Honestly, you and Luthor—" Alex grumbled before Kara cleared her throat loudly. Alex looked down at Kara and mumbled something about body armor and being happy that at least she remembered to wear it. "Do you have any idea where you're going?"

"Yes, Alex," Kara muttered. Alex looked at Kara knowingly before Kara corrected herself. "Okay, maybe not."

"Kara, are you kidding me?"

"I was just going to keep flying until I saw something, _but_ now that you're here, you can help."

"Yeah, yeah, fine," Alex complained as she climbed into the front seat and help direct Kara to the area where the wreckage sighting was reported. "Alright, so we're about two miles out. There's a clearing over there that you might be able to land in," Alex commented as she pointed to a patch of clear land. Kara nodded resolutely and carefully maneuvered the helicopter toward the area. Once they landed, the two sisters jumped out of the helicopter to begin their search—until Alex stopped Kara from going any further. "Kara?" Alex asked angrily.

"Yeah?"

"Forgetting something? Like I don't know—your rifle maybe?" Alex replied, her voice rising with each word.

"Alex, I don't need it. There's no one out here and it's kinda bulky."

"Oh well, if you don't need it—Kara, we _are in a war zone_ or did you forget? Take your rifle with you. I will not be stuck saving both our asses if anyone finds us," Alex growled.

"Well… I kinda left mine back at the base," Kara mumbled sheepishly. "I didn't think I would need it," she defended as she saw the fiery look in Alex's eyes.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing I brought yours along when I got in the chopper," Alex said in an oddly chipper tone.

"That reminds me. How did you get in there anyway?"

"Well, I hid out in the back because I knew you would do something as stupid as defying a direct order and it's a good thing I did since you were probably going to get your dumb ass killed. If anyone asks, I was sleeping in the back and you kinda kidnapped me, alright?" Alex added as she patted Kara's shoulder before grabbing her medical kit and a map.

" _Alex_ ," Kara warned. "Are you telling me that in addition to possibly getting in trouble for disobeying a direct order, I am also going to get kit with a kidnapping charge?"

"Yes. Now shut up and let's get going," Alex said as she tossed her kit to Kara. "Carry this. I know that those muscles of yours aren't just for show."

"Right. Okay, so that Sergeant mentioned seeing a wreck by the river, which isn't too far. I can hear it running." The women carefully trekked through the jungle until they found the riverbed and turned on their flashlights briefly to get a better look at the surrounding area. "There," Kara whispered as she pointed to the left. "I think that's the plane." Kara immediately started hiking toward the wreckage, leaving Alex to try to keep up with her.

"Damn it, Kara, I'm a doctor, not an adventurer," Alex grumbled to herself as she tried to reach her sister. Alex kept walking until she bumped into something hard, which she realized was her sister's shocked form.

"I found it," Kara murmured tensely. "Alex, I'm scared. What if she's dead?"

"I know. How about I go over there and I'll look?" Kara didn't respond at first, but when Alex gently hugged her distraught sister, she felt Kara nod faintly against her shoulder. Alex squared her shoulder and slowly walked up to the burnt-out husk. She quickly examined the markings before confirming, "It's one of ours." She circled the debris until she located the cockpit. Alex turned on her flashlight and shone it inside to get a better look. It was empty. Alex looked up at Kara and shook her head.

"It's her, isn't it?" Kara asked, afraid of the answer.

"No, it's not. In fact, there's _no one_ in there, Kara. She could be in the jungle somewhere or she could have been captured. We need to try to find her." Kara nodded and jogged over to Alex's side. The brunette whipped out the map from one of the many pockets in her bag and began to examine it.

"Alex, you do realize that it'll be a lot better if we split up."

" _Kara_."

"Alex, we do need to get back to base at some point, preferably before Colonel J'onzz has a chance to get too angry—or worse, call Colonel Grant."

"Fine." Kara handed Alex her kit and checked her rifle before heading into the jungle. Alex sighed, adjusted her equipment, and too began her trek into the dark jungle. She makes about 500 feet before she runs into another clearing. She carefully steps into the open and is stunned to find that there aren't any traps or anything of the sort. In fact, the only indication that someone had been there was the fact that there were dead bodies _everywhere._ Alex ran over to them and was stunned to see that every single one of them was an enemy soldier. What astonished her, even more, was that not one of the 20 bodies strewn around had a single bullet wound among them, but rather all of them had died of either stab wounds or slit throats. _Who did this_ , Alex wondered as she tried to check the bodies for any signs of life before realizing that they were at least 4 days old. Privately, in her own head, Alex wondered if Lena had been the one to do this and almost hoped that she was.

As Alex was trying to figure out who had killed all those soldiers, Kara was wandering the jungle several hundred yards away, also looking for any signs of life. Kara walked carefully, mindful of the booby traps that sometimes litter the jungle floor, and soon found herself staring at a pile of leaves and twigs that could very well be a trap. She's about to take a step forward to get a better look when suddenly, a weight drops onto her back and a knife is pressed against her throat. "Don't move," the mysterious presence rasps. "Drop your weapon. Now," the voice demands as they press the knife just a little harder against Kara's neck. When the blonde drops her weapon to the ground, she gets a glimpse of something shiny on her captor's wrist. She immediately recognized it as the bracelet that Lena always wore, a gift from her late mother. Enraged that this person had taken such a precious heirloom from Lena, Kara growled before reaching up and tossing the stranger to the ground. In one fluid motion, Kara retrieved her sidearm from the holster on her right leg and pointed it at the other person's head as she disarms them.

"Who are you?" Kara demanded furiously. When she finally looked at her now prisoner's face, Kara realizes that it's "Lena." Kara takes a moment to look at the condition that Lena is in. Her uniform is torn, revealing patches of burned flesh or torn, bloodied cuts and her trademark jacket is missing. Kara also noticed that Lena's breathing was somewhat labored, meaning that she had a few cracked ribs, probably more now that Kara has manhandled her. "It's you," Kara whispered as she pulled Lena in for a gentle hug. But the moment doesn't last for long because soon Kara hears rustling coming from somewhere behind them. Kara quickly retrieved her discarded rifle and handed Lena her M1911 pistol as she pointed the barrel of M16 at the source of the sound.

"Thanks for the welcoming committee there, Kara," Alex snarked as she revealed herself. "You're a tough one to kill, Luthor," Alex commented as she dropped down to her knees next to Lena. As Kara took her pistol back and holstered it, Alex opened her medical kit and grabbed some supplies to treat Lena's injuries. While Kara stood guard, Alex bandaged Lena's cuts and burns before carefully wrapping Lena's ribs with some gauze to alleviate some of the pain until the made it back to base. "Okay, we're good." Alex stood and motioned for Kara to pick Lena up. Once Lena was comfortably situated on Kara's back, they started making their way back to the helicopter. Once they make it back, Kara carefully climbs inside and lays Lena down on the stretcher.

"Thank you," Lena whispered as Alex made her way to Lena's side and Kara got behind the helicopter's controls. Both Danvers sisters smiled warmly at the tired pilot as they got to work. Lena closed her eyes, happy to finally be able to rest safely for the first time in a week, as Alex continued to tend to her wounds. She faintly heard Kara radioing into the base to report that she had been found, followed by a contrite apology to what sounded like a _very_ angry Colonel J'onzz. Lena opened her heavy eyes just wide enough to give Alex a confused look. Alex, for her part, filled Lena in on the events of the last week and how the covert rescue was mounted. They made it back to Firebase Zulu just as the sun was starting to rise above the horizon. When they landed, a medical team ran up the chopper to help Alex and Kara get Lena inside. Alex and Kara linger in the background as the medical team gets Lena settled into the gurney. Just as the medical team is about to run off inside with Lena, she turned her head and called out "Danvers." Alex shoved Kara forward to get her to move closer to Lena. "I owe you. Dinner. Whenever you want, wherever you want. On me." Lena looked right at Kara and winked at her, causing Kara to blush a bright red. The brunette chuckles softly and closes her eyes, allowing the medical team to take her away for treatment.

* * *

Lena was sent back to the United States to recover from her injuries. When she recovered, she was once again sent to Vietnam, where she stayed for about 3 months before she is informed that her tour is over. She received an honorable discharge and once home, she immediately started working as an engineer at her family's company, which was being run very successfully by her adoptive parents. Kara and Alex managed not to get in trouble. Colonel J'onzz was incredibly furious that they (Kara) disobeyed a direct order but decided that it was worth it in the end. Both Danvers still got a few days on mess duty, but they didn't end up being discharged for their actions. They both return home as heroes in 1972 as do most of the troops serving at Firebase Zulu. Alex and Maggie eventually found each other again and started dating. Once she was stateside, Kara's first order of business was to find Lena Luthor again and she did, at Luthor Corp. Lena was shocked but overjoyed to see the woman who helped save her life. In the end, despite having been subjected to the horrors of a war zone, everyone somehow found happiness and decided that they still had the rest of their lives to figure everything else out.

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Sorry if any of the ranks are wrong or for any other mistakes, I did my best to try to portray the period and the military accurately.

Let me know what you guys think


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